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Elementary Season 4 Episode 7 Review: Miss Taken

You kept me guessing until the very end. Elementary Season 4 Episode 7 started with a classic 'corpse in the woodchipper' scenario, followed by an impostor kidnapee, a flashbang, and the real kidnappee saved.

Fake Mina was brilliantly manipulative, to the point where Sherlock described her as one of the best liars he's ever met. And this from the guy who was in love with Moriarty!

Part of the cleverness of the episode lay in the casting of Kathryn Erbe and Raphael Sbarge as Nancy and Richard Davenport, the parents. All too often, it's easy to pick out the guilty party because they're played by a recognizable actor, but they pulled a fast one on us here, and it worked out very well!

They didn't help their case when they refused to have any part in proving Fake Mina was, well, fake. While I am not a parent, I acknowledge Sherlock's argument that they might be willing to delude themselves into accepting Fake Mina.

I confess I was ready to believe Fake Mina's story that the Davenports killed Mina. In fact, when the blood was found in the car, I thought they were going to turn around and accuse Nancy of playing a part in the death of the unfortunate Agent Underhill.

I'm almost always happy to be surprised when a crime drama like this can successfully fake me out. I've been watching these sorts of things pretty much my whole life, so I fear I tend to lean a bit heavily towards "nothing new under the sun."

Sherlock made a hilariously meta comment along these lines when Joan asked him why he wasn't upset about her father's fictional retelling of their adventures:

It's hardly the first time I've inspired a writer, Watson. I am actually the basis for several fictional characters across various media.

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has such a prominent place in the detective genre that it's pretty much impossible to quantify the influence the stories have had over the past century. And even direct adaptations of the characters themselves are many and varied.

Joan's reaction to her father's book was entertainingly vehement, and I rather wish I could read The Heart Bled Blue myself!

[regarding her father's book] It's ridiculous! Sherlock and I do not run around with guns, and we don't get into kung fu fights with criminals, and we sure as hell do not sleep together!

This episode was also fertile ground for some excellent lines, so be sure to check out of Elementary quotes page for a sampling!

It was somewhat predictable, albeit heartwarming, that Joan would ultimately give her father the okay on the sequel to his first book, complete with tons of notes that she made on his manuscript. Though I can't say that I'd be nearly that cool with my dad writing about a fictional version of me having sex! There's something just so wrong about that.

So, good readers, I ask you this: would you feel comfortable with your parent writing about you (or, at least, your fictional counterpart) having sex?

A few final thoughts before I turn the discussion over to you:

In case you're curious, the actress who played Fake Mina/Cassie, Ally Ioannides, was born in 1998, making her around 18 years old.

Some good did come out of this whole mess in the end: the real Mina was located, rescued, and reunited with her family, while the kidnapper was arrested. A rather more positive outcome than I was expecting, to be sure!

Sherlock's really lucky that Fake Mina didn't put his flashbang next to some highly flammable drapes; it would've been counterproductive to burn the house down when they were trying to gain access to acquire evidence.

Speaking of that flashbang, I wonder if Gregson or Bell will ever figure out who planted the bomb...

Joan spent $4,000 buying up every copy she could find of her father's book. I'd imagine that definitely counts as a win as far as the publisher is concerned! The question is, what will she do with those books now...?

Did you enjoy "Miss Taken"? Were you surprised that Fake Mina turned out to be the killer after all? Would you read The Heart Bled Blue? Let us know in the comments section below!

Missed this episode? Or maybe you just want to relive it? Be sure to watch Elementary online right here at TV Fanatic! Elementary Season 4 Episode 8, "A Burden of Blood," is slated to air on January 14, 2016 at 10/9c on CBS.